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One year after Fountain-Fort Carson athletics shakeup, AD leaving for principal position in Pueblo

Fountain-Fort Carson will be looking for a new athletic director less than a year after hiring its previous one.

Chris James, who took over after longtime AD Kelley Eichman was moved into another position within the school district, was named the new principal at Pueblo West on Tuesday, the Pueblo Chieftain reported Wednesday.

James, who graduated from Pueblo South, was also assistant principal at Fountain-Fort Carson for two years before taking the AD position ahead of the 2016-17 school year.

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James was elevated to AD at Fountain-Fort Carson among sweeping changes under the watch of School District 8 superintendent Keith Owen, also a South graduate.

In April 2016, toward the end of Owen's first school year as superintendent, all coaches at F-FC were told they would have to reapply for their positions. Eichman was also reassigned to D-8's alternative school, the Welte Education Center, to serve as assistant principal.

Then-football coach Mitch Johnson, who graduated from Fountain-Fort Carson in 1974 and coached at F-FC from 1986 to 2015, did not return when told to reapply.

Owen and Patrick Krumholz, who was principal at Pueblo East before taking the same role at F-FC ahead of the 2016-17 school year, told coaches last year that they were bringing a new philosophy regarding athletics. That approach reportedly included developing a pipeline for athletics, starting with middle school students and kids involved in community sports programs, district public information officer Christy McGee told The Gazette last year.

Neither James nor McGee responded to voicemails left by The Gazette on Wednesday.